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Waisted menkey has posted in the Alpha Testers Journal with many screen shots of testing the latest internal build of FAS. Most notable in the screen shots are of the scope mechanics for weapons with low powered scopes such as the MP5 and G36. Using the scopes on these weapons brings up the scope, but still allows you to to see the area around you as well. Scopes for dedicated sniper rifles, such as the M82 and SR25 are the full screen scope that most players of FPS are use to.
Also shown in one screen shot is a mini map in the HUD. The mini map displays the map topography, as well as near by team mates, your cone of view, medics (or possibly hospice flags), capture points and possibly mortar targets. Mortar targets however could have a map of their own for interaction, or the mini map could expand similar to DoD:S to allow players to interact with it.
In addition, this screen shot also shows the mortar's ammo count bar above your weapons ammo count. It is unable to be determined if this only appears for your mortar, is displayed if if you target the mortar and if you need the Artillery skill to see the ammo count.
Finally, there appears to be some type of medal system in FAS. What it is exactly has yet to be explained at all. Possibly achievements, possibly an in game system that awards players skills for other things besides killing.
In addition, there are screen shots of the blue model place holder. Also there are a few players wielding deadly bananas which are place holders for the new high quality world models.
After losing his previous map and tooling around with a temple map, wasisted menkey has shown us a fairly complex side project titled tc_carpark which is shaping up to be a visual pleasing urban map.
Carpark is actually WM's fist idea for a map and he warns that this map may not "ever turn into an actual playable map or not". Other than the obvious carpark, WM's newest map will also include apartments, a hotel, a construction site and possibly an office building and sewers as well.
The current design looks promising, offering many routes as well as more chances for vertical fighting that map currently shown FAS maps lack. If you would like to see more screen shots and comments about the map from WM, you can view the associated FAS Mapping Forum thread, here.
FAS is showcasing the G3, modeled by Schmung, skinned by the newest FAS Team member, racer445 and animated by TIMN. The G3 is the first of many weapons redone Schmung and racer445 that raise the bar in quality and realism for FAS's arsenal.
The G3 is an accurate assault rifle that fires a powerful 7.62x51mm NATO round and is accurate while used in semi-automatic mode, but has a lot of kick when on full auto and not the highest rate of fire. The dramatic change in accuracy and recoil between these two fire modes, as well as the low magazine size of 20, means players will have to know which fire mode is best for each situation, such as full auto up close, and semi-auto at a distance.
waited_menkey, a FAS Alpha Tester said, "[the G3] was by far my most favorite AR from the original FA. I used it all the time. Though as a tester I feel I have a duty to cycle my config/load-out, if I didn't feel that, I would use the G3A3 all the time (and people would probably bitch about it). The FA:S G3A3 upholds the standards I expected the G3A3 to perform at, and the new Source model looks amazing." So those who loved the G3 in older versions of FA will feel right at home with it in FAS.
Hitman also talks about the balance of FAS compared to older versions of Firearms. While past versions did offer a variety of weapons, most of them were sidelined by the more powerful assault rifles, or often outright ignored. FAS still allows for dual assault rifle configurations, but because the sub machine guns, pistols, and shotguns are so well balanced, hardly anyone feels a need too. Instead, players can take three or four sub machine guns, a sub machine gun and machine gun, or all pistols and still be effective.
Even with all these choices, FAS is keeping the weapons unique, so the difference between one assault rifle and another is more than a model and sound change. "We're committed to giving the players choice, and lots of it, not just cookie-cutter copies of the same gun." said Hitman.FAS also takes on racer445 as a talented skinner who's work can all ready be seen in the G3 as well as an upcoming pistol. Not only a talented skinner, racer445 also is a superb modeler. In addition to racer445, the FAS team has taken on Inveramsay who has all ready been affiliated with FAS for some time. Inveramsay is currently working on "a remake of a well-liked classic map of the 2.6 era, a certain European town map." This map is most likely sd_force, reported earlier. Another possibility is obj_bocage, which is another European town man which debuted with RC 2.6.
FAS has also Incorporated some new features, the most notable being the status of push flags which is displayed at the top of the screen. Not shown is a radio command menu which has over 60 commands accessed though a intuitive GUI. Also not shown are the new menus as well as a new spin on the briefing's page. Lastly, all briefings are localized, so now you can play FAS with your non English speaking friends.
